The most relevant known background art is described in a paper by Schmiele, Luthy, Henchoz and Weber, entitled Miniaturization of a Thallium Iodide Photodissociation Laser, published in Applied Physics, Volume 29, pp. 201-3 in 1982. Schmiele et al. describe a miniature Thallium Iodide photodissociation gas laser in which the active medium was in the form of a thin layer on a quartz wall. An ArF excimer laser was used to pump the active medium in the vapor phase. The Schmiele et al. laser differs from the present invention in that it was pumped by another laser, (an ArF laser), and it used an active medium in the vapor phase.
A search of the patented background art revealed U.S. Pat. No. 3,573,653 issued to Smiley, U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,213 issued to Yariv, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,479 issued to Campbell et al.
Smiley discloses a tunable thin film laser consisting of laser material that is excited by a source which is described as comprising "an appropriate noncoherent light source such as a gas discharge device or alternatively a source of coherent excitation energy such as another laser." Conductive means are positioned on either side of the laser material and insulated therefrom, and a variable electric field is generated between the electrodes to provide tuning for the laser output. Yariv discloses an X-ray laser comprising a single crystal in the form of a thin film with an oriented set of prominent atomic planes so that when the crystal is excited by an appropriate pumping source, such as electrons, X-rays, or intense laser radiation, X-ray photons, which are emitted from the crystal, experience internal feedback from the atomic planes, thereby eliminating the need for external feedback. In addition, the crystal functions as a thin planar waveguide confining the X-ray waves therein, thereby reducing the necessary pumping power and increasing overall efficiency. Campbell et al. disclose an operational X-ray laser comprising a free thin foil which is optically pumped by a high power laser.